S6 E1 - The Killing Year

American Nightmares: The Canal Murders

This opening episode of American Nightmares' sixth season investigates the horrific 1992 murder of Angela Brasso along a Phoenix canal path, an event that triggered widespread fear and launched one of

Key takeaways

• Angela Brasso was murdered on November 8, 1992, while returning from an evening bike ride along a Phoenix canal path near her apartment complex.
• The crime scene revealed extreme mutilation and decapitation, with her severed head discovered floating in the Arizona Canal twelve days later near Castles & Coasters.

Main topics

• Phoenix canal crime history
• Angela Brasso murder investigation

Notable quotes

"It's just ridiculous the amount of savageness that was put upon this lady."

Conclusion

The episode effectively establishes the chilling baseline for a decade

Transcript preview

Speaker 8 (0:00) Listen to every episode of American Nightmares, The Canal Murders, ad-free right now when you subscribe to The Binge. You'll hear the entire series before anyone else, get exclusive bonus episodes, and unlock more than 70 other true crime podcasts. Just head to The Binge channel on Apple Podcasts and tap subscribe or visit GetTheBinge.com to listen wherever you are. The Binge, feed your true crime obsession. The Bench Speaker 1 (0:34) This podcast series contains descriptions of violent assault and murder and is not intended for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised. Speaker 1 (0:47) When you think of big city crime in America, you're more likely to imagine the dark cobblestone alleys of New York or mob land Chicago or the private eyes and tabloid terrors of Los Angeles. Phoenix, Arizona probably doesn't make your list. It didn't make mine either. At 1.6 million inhabitants, Phoenix is America's fifth largest city. And these days, what it's most famous for is heat. If Speaker 2 (1:14) you're not already fed up with triple-digit heat in March, it could be sticking around for a bit longer. Getting Speaker 8 (1:19) us to around 100 on Tuesday, 102 Wednesday, and around 103 on Thursday. Speaker 1 (1:25) While today's temperatures break records, it's always been hot and dry here. And that is why, centuries ago, the very first inhabitants, the ancient Hohokam people, dug canals, moving water across the Phoenix Valley to irrigate their crops. Today, Phoenix still has a canal system, although the word system isn't exactly right. It's more like a haphazard mix of waterways, a few of which connect, others of which don't. Some meander along the paths of long-ago creeks. Some have the straight lines and hard angles of more modern engineering. All of them have paths alongside, which Phoenicians have always used for walking and biking. Speaker 1 (2:12) In some areas, like wealthy Scottsdale to the east, the paths are manicured and lined with coffee shops and e-bike rental places. But in parts of central Phoenix, the canals have always been magnets for trouble. Brianna Whitney is a local crime reporter. Speaker 2 (2:29) I think the best thing about Phoenix can also be a catch-22. It's sunny, it's warm, it's active. People want to be out. So I think it's one of those things where running, walking, biking the canal. Great activity in Phoenix. Safest activity? Probably not. Speaker 1 (2:45) I've walked miles of the canals and can attest that there are spots that are desolate and littered with trash and graffiti. In the pedestrian tunnels that run underneath the roads, I've seen homeless people and illicit drug use. But in the 1990s, the canal paths were even worse. If you lived in Phoenix in those days, the first thing you probably thought of when someone mentioned the canals wasn't just crime. It was murder. Speaker 2 (3:11) Were you planning to do anything with her the next day? Speaker 2 (3:16) It was Speaker 5 (3:17) her birthday, so yes. This is Joe Krakowicki. He's on the witness stand at a trial nearly 30 years after one of the worst days in his life. He's here to talk about that day. Speaker 2 (3:31) Do you remember that day? Speaker 8 (3:33) It's been many, many years, but it's been with me that many years. Speaker 5 (3:37) In 1992, Joe is 23 years old, working as a bartender in Phoenix. and taking classes at the local campus of DeVry University, a business and technology school. He shares an apartment with his girlfriend, Angela Brasso. He calls her Angie. She is a DeVry graduate, that's how they met, and she now teaches at the school. They are both part of a growing movement to create tech jobs in Phoenix, which has earned the city the nickname Silicon Desert. On Sunday, November 8th, Joe is in their apartment preparing for Angela's 22nd birthday, the very next day. Speaker 2 (4:15) Did you decide to bake her something? Yes, I was. What did you bake her? Speaker 8 (4:20) I was baking her a cake that night. That was the reason I didn't go on the bike ride. Speaker 5 (4:24) The couple had done a bunch of Sunday things that Sunday. Picked up their bicycles from a bike shop where they had been for service, eaten a meal at a nearby Friday's restaurant. The sun is setting when Angela changes into exercise clothes, grabs her Walkman cassette player and headphones, remember it's 1992, and gets on her newly tuned bicycle. There is a bike path that passes very close to their development. It runs alongside Cave Creek, a tributary of a bigger canal to the south called the Arizona Canal. Angela rides this path several times a week, and always on Sundays. Speaker 2 (5:04) Did there come a point that evening where she let you know that she wanted to go on a bike ride? Yes. What did you say to her about that? Speaker 8 (5:13) At the time, I really wasn't as cautious as I am today, so I really didn't even think about it, to be honest. It was just, go for your bike ride. Speaker 5 (5:22) But on this day, Angie doesn't return from her ride. Speaker 5 (5:31) Hours go by. Evening becomes night. Joe takes his own bike and goes looking for her. Three times. The bike path in those days was not well lit. Dark shadows are everywhere. But there is no Angie. It's nearly midnight when Joe Krakowicki calls 911. Speaker 2 (5:52) What was your purpose in calling police? Speaker 8 (5:55) The hopes to broaden the search to maybe things I didn't have available to me to find her. Speaker 5 (6:01) Morning arrives. Police start searching. On foot, on bicycles, even a helicopter. A little after 9 a.m., officers find Angela Brasso. Murdered and brutally mutilated. dragged several yards from the bike path, and left on a grassy slope within only a hundred feet of her own apartment complex. Speaker 5 (6:29) to make the unspeakable even worse. The death of Angela Brasso is just the beginning. Speaker 2 (6:50) Phoenix has bizarre crime, perfect for a podcast. Speaker 7 (6:54) It was such a shock and it was so unexpected that people were like, well, are we safe? Speaker 3 (6:59) The reality to me is he's a sexual saviour. You don't just happen to wander out there and decide, oh, I'm going to kill somebody like that. Speaker 8 (7:07) I trust my dog, boy. She didn't want him coming in the house. The more you dig, the more certain you get that something's really wrong with this guy. Those two crimes, Melanie and Angela, That can't be his first rodeo. Speaker 1 (7:21) I'm Brian Peter Falk. From the Gamut Podcast Network, this is Season 6 of American Nightmares, The Canal Murders. This is Episode 1, The Killing Year. Speaker 5 (7:40) A big thank you to this season's sponsor, Vinted. 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Join the millions already banking fee-free with America's number one choice for banking. Head to Chime.com slash nightmares. That's Chime.com slash nightmares. Sign up now. It only takes a few minutes. Speaker 6 (9:57) Chime is a fintech, not a bank. Banking services and ChimeCard provided by Chime's bank partners. Qualifying direct deposits required. Terms and limits apply. Go to Chime.com slash disclosures for details. Speaker 1 (10:10) Crime in Phoenix has its own southwestern desert flavor, what crime reporter Brianna Whitney calls bizarre crime. This is mostly because of its unique